The City of Burnaby has taken stock of its public art offerings, and all the pieces are being compiled in an online database accessible to the public.
Ellen van Eijensbergen, the city’s visual arts coordinator, presented the results of the 2014 public art survey to council at Monday night’s meeting.
“Over the past 12 months, the Burnaby Art Gallery staff has expended considerable resources on this comprehensive inventory,” she said.
There are currently 16 pieces of city-owned public art, including the Playground of the Gods, the MADD legacy monument, and the Korean War memorial, according to the survey.
Some, like the Playground of the Gods, need a lot of maintenance and upkeep, added van Eijensbergen.
Another piece is planned for this year – a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the founding father of the Republic of China. The statue, which would be located near Patterson SkyTrain station, honours Burnaby’s sister city Zhongshan – Yat-Sen’s birthplace.
There are also memorials and cenotaphs throughout the city, van Eijensbergen said, as well as unique pieces such as the Swinging Girl neon sign in the Heights.
“I think it’s been very cleverly retrofitted to celebrate that corridor,” she said.
There are also privately-owned public art pieces throughout the city, and those installed via public-private partnerships, van Eijensbergen added.
And with developments in Metrotown, including the Beresford art walk, there is even more public artwork planned for the near future, according to van Eijensbergen.
These include anything from tall mushroom-shaped “lanterns,” with light emanating from underneath, to a large rainbow sequin-covered wall, she said.
Each new artwork will be included in the city’s public art database, which is online, though it hasn’t officially launched yet, she said.
The database includes detailed information on each piece, as well as GPS coordinates and maps, she added.
Mayor Derek Corrigan was enthusiastic about the project, expressing his approval for the city’s public art initiatives.
“It’s really entertaining to see how much artwork already exists in Burnaby,” he said. “And it’s particularly heartening to me because, as you know, I have focused greatly on trying to bring art to people as opposed to having art in places where people have to go, and I’ve believed for a long time that the world should be an art gallery.”
